UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Shares Up 1.3% – Should You Buy?

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)’s share price shot up 1.3% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $521.00 and last traded at $520.72. 725,008 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 78% from the average session volume of 3,235,017 shares. The stock had previously closed at $514.25.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

UNH has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $591.00 to $644.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. KeyCorp assumed coverage on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday, October 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $675.00 target price on the stock. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Barclays upped their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $603.00 to $655.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $627.58.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average price of $557.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $561.72. The company has a market capitalization of $482.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.00 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $100.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.14 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.63% and a return on equity of 26.37%. The business’s revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $6.56 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were given a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.60%. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 54.72%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of UNH. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates lifted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 152.4% in the third quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 53 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Quarry LP boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 132.1% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 65 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Finally, VitalStone Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 600.0% during the second quarter. VitalStone Financial LLC now owns 70 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

About UnitedHealth Group

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated operates as a diversified health care company in the United States. The company operates through four segments: UnitedHealthcare, Optum Health, Optum Insight, and Optum Rx. The UnitedHealthcare segment offers consumer-oriented health benefit plans and services for national employers, public sector employers, mid-sized employers, small businesses, and individuals; health care coverage, and health and well-being services to individuals age 50 and older addressing their needs; Medicaid plans, children's health insurance and health care programs; and health and dental benefits, and hospital and clinical services, as well as health care benefits products and services to state programs caring for the economically disadvantaged, medically underserved, and those without the benefit of employer-funded health care coverage.